Why the absence is not evidence

Three reasons, and any one of them is sufficient.

1. Committee bills do not appear on this list. The list is legislator-requested drafts. A committee bill comes from an interim committee, not an individual member — which is exactly what the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act draft would be. Its placeholder header reads “BY REQUEST OF THE ****”. It would never show up here.

2. The list is early and it grows. Only five House requesters appear against dozens of senators, which is not a plausible final distribution. Requests continue until pre-filing.

3. A request is not a bill. No LC numbers are shown, no text exists publicly, and a request can be abandoned.

So read the list as a weak positive signal about what individual members are thinking — nothing in the pipeline currently threatens covenant or assessment authority — and not at all as evidence that no HOA bill is coming.

The trap in “architectural review”

This is the entry most likely to be misreported, so be precise about it. Architectural review in the Montana Land Planning Act context is municipal design review — a local government's review of building design — not an association's architectural review committee. Senator Fern's first request names the Act explicitly.

His second request, “Revise architectural review laws,” carries no subject limitation. Nobody outside the drafter knows yet which direction it goes, and it could be drafted either way. It is worth watching precisely because architectural review is the single most litigated association function in Montana — and because the state's newest appellate decision on the subject, Waddell v. Studer, 2025 MT 269, held that a permissive-sounding covenant duty to “take into consideration” neighbours' views is binding, and vacated a $417,608 fee award in the process.⁴

Where the 2027 property-tax work actually is

Not on this list, mostly. The Revenue Interim Committee is carrying four provisional drafts into 2027, by title:

• PD 4: “Eligibility for state property tax assistance,” also listed as “Updated Draft to Align Principal Residence Tax Programs”
• PD 5: “Requirements for ballot or resolution language estimating property tax impacts”
• PD 9: “Increase elderly homeowner and renter credit”
• PD 12: “Resolution for study of local government audits”

PD 4 is the one that reaches association members most directly — it would rework who qualifies for the homestead reduced rate created by House Bill 231 and Senate Bill 542 in 2025. Mixed-use, second-home and rental-heavy condominium buildings are exactly where “principal residence” eligibility gets contested, and boards field those questions whether or not they want to. PD 5 would change what levy and bond ballots must disclose about the tax impact on homes.²

We report these by title only. We did not open the drafts, and we did not verify whether the committee has taken executive action on any of them. They are provisional drafts, not bills.

What the Governor has said, and what he has not

A Governor's Office release dated February 25, 2026, “Governor Gianforte Discusses Tax Cut Priorities,” covers his appearance ahead of the 2027 session. It is exclusively about income tax — moving Montana to a flat income tax and continuing to lower the rate — and contains no property tax or housing statement for 2027.³

That is one release, and the absence of a property-tax statement in it is not evidence he has no plan. The document where a 2027 position would actually appear is the executive budget for the 2029 biennium, normally released in mid-November 2026. Until then, any claim about “Gianforte's 2027 property tax plan” is unverified.

One structural note if income tax does absorb the Governor's tax capital in 2027: property-tax relief and housing become legislature-driven, which raises the relative weight of the interim committee products — and the interim committee product that matters most to Montana associations goes to a vote on September 17, 2026.

One correction, because the search results invite it

Searching for a 2027 Montana UCIOA bill surfaces “LC4414”. That is the LC number of House Joint Resolution 50 itself — the 2025 study resolution — confirmed against the Legislature's own bill record. It is not a 2027 bill draft. There is no verified LC number for a 2027 UCIOA bill.